Single Tears
by AndSheWasBeautiful
Summary: When it rained, she knew he was upset - and she threw a shawl over her head and ran to the 10th's barracks. But this time was different. This time, the rain pelted the ground relentlessly, and she ran faster than she ever had before. M/T


**Single Tears.**

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><p><strong>.and hold him closer when he tries, to hold the tears back from his eyes.<strong>

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><p>It hardly ever rained in Soul Society.<p>

When it did rain, however – great dark clouds of angry grey clumping and gathering over the Repentance Cell, the first few heavy droplets hitting the unaware 18th seat on guard duty – Momo grabbed a shawl, no matter what she was doing, and threw it over her head, leaving the grounds of the 5th, despite the other members' warnings of rain.

The rain fell heavily as she ran, skidding around corners and down short cuts of ragged alley ways, and her sandals soaked through, creating a squelching sound.

When it rained, Momo skidded up to the doors of the 10th, the guard at the door already opening the gates in anticipation of her hasty arrival. She would smile gratefully, and hand him her shawl, which he proceeded to wring out as she took her sandals off.

Rangiku greeted her with clean socks, and Momo pulled them on in haste. Her eyes would linger on Rangiku only a moment, usually exchanging messages with only their eyes, but today, the older shinigami clutched Momo's sleeve, her eyes shining.

"Hinamori-chan," she murmured, her honey blonde hair falling over her shoulders. Momo's brows furrowed at Rangiku's movement, and she watched her carefully for a moment. Rangiku seemed to be struggling for words, but instead of forcing them out, she stood back and shook her head.

As Momo rounded the corner to the Captain's quarters, she was sure the glimmer of tears had been present in Matsumoto-san's normally mirthful eyes. The guards at the Captain's door nodded to her, stepping aside and allowing her access to their Captain's rooms.

Momo had seen then many times before, and still the rich furnishing of his rooms astounded her – still, he managed to keep it to the bare minimum, as he had never been fond of using his position to gain luxurious items – he found it cruel that he had so much, whilst those in the last district of Rukongai had to fight each other off for scraps of food.

The entrance room was plain white, the ground pale grey stone. A highly polished brown table stood in the centre, a beautiful, glimmering ice sculpture in the form of a grand ice dragon standing atop it, crafted by the Captain himself from Hyourinmaru's melt resistance ice. The light from the turquoise chandelier above made it sparkle and glimmer, but Momo had no time to admire it today.

To the right was an archway that led to his bathroom – again, white walls, grey granite flooring, a wet room that Momo openly expressed her jealousy over. To the left was another grand archway, which led to his meditation room – here the room was simple, covered in tatami and darker than the others. There were large, turquoise cushions to sit on and meditate, as well as numerous bokken stands for stance practice, and Hyourinmaru's own great stand, carved once more from ice, glittering like gems.

Momo passed each of these archways and paused before the largest arch of them all, straight ahead. It was concealed by large, translucent teal curtains, which currently were closed. Beyond, Momo knew the Captain's grand, four poster bed stood proudly in the centre of the room, below the chandelier fashioned to look like dragon's heads, their mouths open and holding the lights that illuminated the room. On either side of the bed were plain tables, similar to the one in the main room, lights also sitting there. Beside his bed stood another beautiful ice stand, as he liked to keep his sword close at night. Beyond that, the room was bare, apart from his drawers and a jade washing bowl on top and a small mirror.

Momo took a deep breath, as the rain beat the windows of his rooms hard, and she wondered what on earth was making him so devastated. Rangiku had looked worried – and it took a lot to make her take notice in such a way.

As it rained, Momo stepped forth, and brushed the curtains aside with a swoop of her hand, to see Captain of Squad 10 – no. Shirou-chan. Sitting on his bed, his back to the curtains, head bowed. She stepped forth and folded her arms, as he had probably sensed her even as she left the 5th's grounds.

"Come to take pity on me again, Momo?" he asked softly, his voice cold as always.

"I never come to pity you, Toushirou."

"Then why do you come?" he demanded, his voice rising, as he lost control a little. She heard him suck his breath back in, and felt his reiatsu surge a little, causing her knees to wobble. She steeled herself and walked a little closer, slowly, to test the waters – his control of his reiatsu was weaker when he was like this, so it rose and fell like the tides of the ocean.

"I come," she said softly, finally reaching the bed. "To comfort you, I guess. Because no matter how hard you try to deny it, you're still a child, Shirou-chan... so am I, if we're fair. Children need comfort when they are upset. And it's raining, so..."

She laid a hand on his shoulder and he laughed bitterly, not shrugging away.

"It's raining so I've lost control and am upset. I'm a Captain. This shouldn't happen!" At his exclamation, his reiatsu surged and Momo's hand felt like she'd just been electrocuted. Still, she kept her hand on his back. He tilted his head a little. "But I'm not... a normal Captain."

With this, Momo clambered up onto his bed, her hand still poised on his shoulder, not forcing him to speak. The rain carried on battering the window, as the turmoil within him battered his soul. Momo was silent. Toushirou finally tilted his head a little, so Momo could see his face. The one aquamarine eye she saw was hardened by sadness, and his jaw was tighter than usual.

"I received a Hell Butterfly early this morning," he explained, his voice quiet again, his reiatsu spiking occasionally. Momo tilted her head and watched as he continued. "You know I keep a close eye on the First District. All the new births." He paused. "And deaths."

It took a moment for her to grasp this knowledge, before her breath hitched, and the hand resting on Toushirou snapped back to grasp at her throat. She shook her head, as he turned, his beautiful eyes already shining with tears.

"No one was _with_ her Momo."

His voice cracked and his reiatsu surged and Momo didn't care as a tear slid down her own cheek. Granny... Granny was dead. Their granny, the woman who had raised them and loved them when no one else would. The one who had supported them all their lives on their quests to go far among the shinigami, the one who had loved them and loved them – and died without anyone at her side.

"Oh, _Toushirou_," Momo whimpered, reaching forth and tangling her arms around his neck, and pulling him close to her. He was cold, _freezing_, like he always had been, and it chilled her body to hold him so tight. But he grew warm against her as time wore on, and she loved the idea that she could heat up even his frozen heart. He made no move to resist as Momo held him to her chest, crying herself stupid into his snow white hair, that Granny said was beautiful and unique, and she whispered how they would arrange her a beautiful funeral and how everything would turn out all right.

They sat on the bed for longer than ever as the storm battled outside, rain thrashing the Seireitei well through the night as they held each other close and mourned the loss of their grandmother.

It was only after he had fallen into a distressed sleep that the rain stopped – it only stopped when he finally let his own tears fall. And Momo watched as a single tear leaked from those beautiful turquoise eyes and slid away slowly.

It froze on his cheek.

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><p><strong>Had a lot of fun writing this (: Hope you liked, and reviews are love (:<strong>


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